Silo



Dec. 7, 1937. G. A. OLBRICH 1 SILO - Filed Oct. 5, 1956 6 11 w 1 M w 1 1 1 1 2 7 1 1 1 1 H H M H A lo o u 0 5 T 1/ lo a f/ o g o o o u o F 1 1 D O O D 0 lo a Q o l o o 0 L1 H M1 0 w 1 5 a1 1 61 fi .1 1 W 1 4 4 1 1 w 1 .....,.W M n 4 i i 1 Z W W a 0 1 m). 1 w 1 i 1 1 1 K 1 1 1 \w w .1. 1 NN 1 o u 0 n f F} M 1 4 1 1 0 1L 1 1 11 m A fighzls'A 350772995 Patented Dec. 7, 1937 SlLO George A. Olbrich, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application October 3,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to farm building construction and more particularly to construction units for silos, corn cribs and the like, and to buildings formed from said construction units.

The usual types of built-up silos are so 'constructed that they become permanent structures, such as a house or barn, and must be permanently located on the site where they are constructed. My invention, however, provides a silo construction which may be easily erected and just as easily dismantled in sections in order that it may be moved from one site to another. This is often desirable in the case of silos owned by persons who rent farm lands and are more inclined to change their location than persons who buy the land outright.

While the construction disclosed in my invention is particularly desirable, because of its portability, it is also one which will find favor with permanently settled owners of farm lands, be-

cause of the ease with which it may be assembled and still provide a thoroughly rigid and leakproof construction, such as is found in built-up silos which are not designed for portability.

Having described the general aim and advantages of my invention, these and other objects and advantages will more fully appear from the following description, made in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the various views, and in which:-

Fig. l is a perspective view of a completed silo; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the silo construction units with its central section broken 35 away;

Fig. 3 is an end view of one of said construction units; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 44 of Fig. 3. p

40 Referring more particularly tothe drawing, a group of staves I0, preferably of wood, are shown secured by nails to a plurality of longitudinally arc-shaped rib members H, which rib members are provided with substantially fiat sides having 45 staggered nail holes therethrough. Nails I2 driven through the holes in the ribs II and into the staves [0 are preferably of such length that they will not penetrate the inner faces of said staves.

As shown in Fig. 4, the ribs are formed with 50 V-shaped projections l3 which provide outstanding shoulders throughout the lengths of the ribs. In addition to strengthening said ribs, the shoulders l3 provide supports for circular hoops l4 which encircle the silo and are generally connect- 55 ed at their ends to form a continuous circular 1936, Serial No. 103,893

binding means for the silo. Any conventional connecting means may be used and this is shown generally at Ma.

Fig. 3 shows a group of staves It held together by one of the rib members II to form one of my construction units. As shown in that figure and.

' in Figure 2, the ribs extend outwardly past the staves at one side of the group of staves and said ribs are offset, as shown at l5. This oifset portion is also provided with holes to accommodate nails and the offset is adapted to overlap the ends of ribs of an adjacent section or construction unit. This overlapping is shown in Fig. 3 with .a portion of an adjacent unit, shown in dotted lines. The ends of the ribs which are not offset terminate flush with the opposite side of the group of staves and these ends of the rib members are provided with elongated openings Hi to permit more easy registrationwith the nail holes in ofiset ends of adjacent rib members which overlap them.

Any suitable form of foundation, such as. the circular concrete foundation I1, shown in Fig. 1, may be used, and one of the silo sections is provided with spaced door frames I8 adapted to receive the doors l9 therebetween. Rungs 20 are also provided on said door members to form a ladder for the silo.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that a silo or similar structure can be built of sections which are constructed individually at a factory and shipped to the purchaser in a knocked down condition. When the sections are received at the point where the silo is to be constructed, assembly of the building is merely a matter of fitting together these preformed sections. It is only necessary to drive a few nails, place the hoops M in position and tighten them and. the walls of the silo are in place. As shown in Fig. 3, the staves are formed withtongues and grooves, which will fit with tongues and grooves of adjacent sections to form a tight joint.

Conversely the silo may be just as easily dismantled by removing the hoops l4 and withdrawing the few nails which have been driven through the overlapping ends of the rib memberspermitting the sections to be taken apart.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, proportions and arrangement of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention which has been described above and is defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:- r

1. In a silo, a sectional construction unit com UNITED STATES PA-rpm: Q;

arcuate metallic rib members secured to the outer surfaces of said sections, a plurality of hoops encircling said silo, said rib members having outwardly bent central portions extending longitudinally thereof to reinforce said ribs and to provide supporting shoulders for said hoops.

3. The structure in claim 2 and said ribs having integral outer ofiset end portions adapted to overlie end portions of adjoining rib sections.

GEORGE A. OLBRICH. 

